Category Archives: Google Photos

Google is arguably the most popular site on the Internet; however, Google offers much more than a search engine. Google Photos is a photo and video storage, sharing, and capturing app that works across all major mobile platforms. Like everything new in life, Google Photos may provide a challenge in getting used to it. Here’s how to make Google Photos work for you, not frustrate you and waste your time.

Apple Photos

If you have an Apple device, download Google Photos on your Apple device: MacBook, iPhone, iMac, or iPod — boy that’s a lot of is! On Apple mobile devices, photos will automatically transfer. Mac users need to identify folders that contain media of interest, then they will transfer.

Users relying on iCloud storage must download pictures and videos directly to their devices, as Google Photos is not compatible with iCloud.

Flickr

Transferring photos of interest from Flickr is a bit difficult, requiring users to export archives of pictures to their devices. Once media files are on your device, transfer them to Google Photos. However, securing the files from Flickr does take time. Third-party apps like Pictogo may help shorten the difficult process of transferring files.

Windows

Uploading pictures from Windows is undoubtedly the easiest option. Simply utilize Google Photos’s desktop unloader program after downloading the app.

Backing up pictures

Google Photos offers two choices of backup: optimized and original. The optimized backup provides limitless storage of photos to Google’s secure cloud. Optimized is markedly more difficult to navigate, however.

Original backup is not unlimited, and may require you to purchase additional storage past the included 15 GB, although casual photographers are unlikely to exceed this limit.

Searching

Google Photos allows users to tag photos and later search through them. The convenient app saves tags to save time when you administer tags to new photos and videos.